Football news

Hi folks,

one day before the start of the new season, we have decided to share with you some more information about the new engine. Over these first four seasons we have received plenty of feedback from you about the engine. We have used all these information that we have gathered to bring you, what we believe, is a much improved product.

It was a long and difficult process and the biggest challenge was probably the analysis of the engine. When the analysis was done, we made a list of objectives that we wanted to achieve based on your feedback. Here follows the list of our main objectives and also a short description of how they were achieved:

1. Reduce the frequency of upsets and extreme results

Probably the most frequent complaint was the frequency of upsets that occured. Even though upsets are naturally occurring in real life football as well, we knew we had to make some changes. Therefore we have implemented some extra features to give the team with the better line-up and tactics a better chance of winning. We did that by incorporating the influence of possession and technique of players into the calculation of team fouls. That means that the team that dominates the play is less likely to commit a foul. Fouls then create free kicks, penalties and cards that can give the stronger team on the day an even bigger advantage. The other and probably even more important improvement is the distance of shooter from goal. In general, the better team is more likely to get closer to goal and therefore also more likely that their shots will be on goal. Moreover, there is also a factor called "time for shot" which depends on the quality of the defense that the shooter is facing and also on the quality of the pass that he receives and the quality of the shooter himself. When a shooter has more time to aim, he is more likely to score.

2. Increase the penalty for a team that got a red card and penalty for illogical formations

All I can say here is, that this has been done to an extent that we believe is fair and corresponds with real life football. This also works in a combination. For example if I have only 1 central defender, I am still ok, but if this defender gets a red card, I am in trouble.

3. Give you more control over the match

The new tactical options should give you some more control over the course of the match. For example the possibility to choose from 5 importance levels, the possibility to change tactics at half-time based on the score and the possibility to make more substitutions in the same minute.

4. Give you more information in match report and more stats

The match report will change as well. All the tactics used by the teams will be displayed in the match report for both the first half and the second half. We have also implemented statistics for goalkeepers such as saves, save percentage, clean sheets, goal-less streaks.

5. Make team strength and ratings more understandable

The team strength indicators have been changed to show strength in goal, defence, midfield and offence. The indicators will depend on the number of players used in each of these zones. If you use a lot of midfielders, your strength in midfield will be higher at the expense of defence or offence. The ratings have also been changed to include the players' shooting abilities. This applies mainly to forwards and midfielders.

6. Fix the live broadcast

We have fixed the bug that caused the substituted players to show up in commentary. We have also implemented the penalty shootout into live broadcast.

Now we are anxiously awaiting the start of the new season and we will be happy to read your feedback and first impressions after the first matches have been played. Don't forget that football will be offline for a few hours from 7:00am CET tomorrow due to maintenance.

Good luck in the new season!